Sidney spikers lose opening matches

The Sidney Lady Raiders volleball team struggled in its season opening triangular at the Cabela's Athletic Facility Thursday night as it was swept by North Platte and Ogallala.

Sidney and North Platte opened the action with the Lady Bulldogs topping the Raiders 25-15 and 25-11. Ogallala later stopped Sidney in straight sets 25-15, 25-15.

The Lady Bulldogs, a strong Class A team that went 30-6 last season, won the triangular by beating the Lady Indians in the second match of the evening 25-15, 25-11.

"These were the first matches of the season and maybe it was a matter of first-night jitters in front of the home crowd," said Raiders' assistant coach Whiney Hurt, who stepped in for head coach Sarah Wilson who was out of town. "We have a couple of freshmen who played very well for us tonight, but it will take a little time for us to mesh as a team. I believe that's going to happen and we're going to have a strong season."

The Raiders got off to a rough start in both matches and were forced to play catch up from the start. In the opening set versus North Platte, Sidney quickly fell into an 11-2 hole.

Shortly thereafter, Kelsey Knight helped reverse Sidney's fortunes temporarily with an emphatic kill to start Sidney on a 5-0 run. When Emily Mahr and Annalise Lecher combined for a block at the net, Sidney managed to get within four points at 13-9. But the Bulldogs, led by their talented middle hitter Olivia Nicholson, outscored Sidney 12-4 to finish out the opening set.

Sidney was down 11-4 in the second set before a Lecher kill, and then another by freshman Payton Jung, began a rally to get Sidney back within one at 19-18. At one point, Sidney scored six unanswered points with Lecher on the service line. The rally stalled, however, as North Platte finished the contest with a 6-3 advantage.

"We definitely went into the North Platte match knowing how good they are and what they're capable of," Lecher said. "I felt like if we played the way we're capable of, we could have beaten Ogallala."

Ogallala jumped out to leads of 5-0 and 9-1 before Mahr and Lecher helped reverse the trend as they combined to block a shot at the net. The Raiders managed to get within three points at 9-6 and 10-7, but could never get closer.

Sidney had their first and only lead of the night to start the second set at 1-0, but after the score reached 3-3, the Indians went on a 9-0 run to wrest control.

"We were definitely expecting to play better against Ogallala," said Sidney libero Abbey Mills. "I don't think we were prepared for the speed. I think we have to practice more like we play. We need to practice closer to game speed so that we'll be better prepared for what we'll see during matches."

The Raiders will be back at home after the Labor Day weekend with a match against Mitchell on Tuesday at 5 p.m.